Just four weeks after 21-year-old Charlotte Szakacs and her husband, Attila, welcomed their daughter, Evlyn, into the world, the infant girl passed away.
Twenty weeks into Charlotte's pregnancy, doctors told the York, England, residents that their baby had
unbalanced chromosome translocation, a rare genetic chromosome abnormality. When she was born on December 13, she had an underdeveloped brain, couldn't breathe on her own
, and had a narrow aorta. She spent most of her short life hooked up to a ventilator. About a month after her birth, she was moved into hospice care and died on January 10.
The parents were devastated after saying goodbye to their little girl, but they found an unusual way to cope with their loss that some may find shocking.
After Evlyn's death, the Szakacs were given an option to spend time with their daughter before burying her.
The hospice provided a cold cot, or "cuddle cot" -- a small cooling unit that allows families to spend extra time with their deceased babies.
Charlotte and Attila were able to spend 16 days with their daughter before her funeral, sometimes even taking her out on walks in a stroller. They also got to take her home with the cuddle cot for four days during that period.
"I know it might not be the best option for everyone. But for us it was so important to be able to have that family time and just properly cuddle our little girl. I think having the time with her made such a difference. Being able to do so many of the things you imagine like taking her out in her pram, it really helped emotionally," Charlotte said.
"I would love to have her here, I would give so much to have that, but we have no idea what her life would have been like. At least now she isn't suffering," she added.
Personally, I think it's amazing that these parents got to do something that clearly meant so much to them before their final farewell. Be sure to SHARE their story if you're glad they got to spend more time with their baby.
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